“Fluence is more than a lighting manufacturer”
Added on 13 October 2023
Let us start with some company background information. “Fluence was founded in Austin, Texas, in 2013 by forward-thinking entrepreneurs Nick Klase and Randy Johnson, and was acquired in 2018 by Munich-based lighting manufacturer OSRAM. By combining Fluence’s proven leadership in LED-based horticulture lighting systems with OSRAM’s expertise in lighting technologies, sensors, and connectivity, Fluence further empowered growers worldwide to adopt scalable and highly profitable cultivation models that tapped into Fluence’s industry-leading research, products, and horticultural expertise. 2022 ushered in a new chapter of growth for the company, with Fluence’s acquisition by the world leader in lighting, Signify. Operating as a business unit within Signify’s Digital Solutions division, Fluence is reaching new heights in sustainable horticulture innovation, enabling growers to achieve even more efficient and productive economies of scale.”
Representing Fluence in the Cultivation for Compounds consortium is Sebastian Olschowski, a Research Project Manager at Fluence, where he is, according to the utilization of innovative lighting technology and latest laboratory methods, conceptualizing and coordinating cutting-edge research projects and grower trails in the EMEA (i.e., Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) region. Sebastian is specialized in the investigation of plant responses to different light spectra and intensities; with more than 10 years of holistic experience in multiple research- and practice-oriented disciplines within ornamental crops, leafy greens, vegetables, and medical plants such as cannabis.
Fluence’s company mission is to improve the interaction between light and life to yield a healthier and more sustainable world. In order to achieve that, Fluence creates lighting solutions for controlled environment commercial crop production. Nevertheless, Sebastian stressed that Fluence offers more than ‘just’ manufacturing lights; “We are not only a lighting manufacturer, and this especially applies when we talk about research. We are uniquely rigorous in our scientific experimental design and analysis that lead to the development of our products. By implementing established and formalized scientific research methods, we develop a far stronger understanding of how to optimize light for a given crop or production objective than what would otherwise be possible, and what is typical in the industry. We share a lot of knowledge with our partners and customers from what we have experienced in the past years. For example, in the CfC, we did not just install the lights and left them to be. We also give advice about how to acclimate the plants, how to modulate the light levels over time, and how to optimize irrigation strategies and fertilization, which is especially important when working with very high light intensities as in this consortium. That is why we are not ‘just’ selling lights, but also sharing knowledge and applying the special skills and experience of everyone in our team.”
Photo: Cultivators
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